Dice Shame - 42 | 'Failure is an Orphan'

Episode Date: July 30, 2020

A feeling of melancholy washes over the party as deal with loss... Comedy, action and a whole lot of shaming come together in Dice Shame, an Actual Play Podcast of Storm King's Thunder by Wizards of the Coast! Join our GM Jo; her partner Harlan, his brother Alex & their best friends Justin and Rob as they tackle the daunting world of Faerun in this legendary adventure module! Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. Like the games they play at home, they try not to take themselves too seriously. The show aims to be entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. Join us every Thursday morning for brand new episodes available on all major platforms including; Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more! If you haven't checked it out yet... what are you waiting for?!? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So how many battles have you had to run away from? I don't know if I've ever run away from a battle before. More evidence of him like turning away from doing a hard thing and letting somebody else do it. Dwarves can really express with their eyes as we know. You look like you've been recently wounded. I'm not one to battle and tell. Red just has this pained look on his face. It was clear to me that she posed a great threat.

Please burrow my body along with our kin in the Great Peak Mountains. With friendship and gratitude, Doran, Iron Fist. Welcome back to Dyshame, episode 42, failure is an orphan. MVP this week is John Bowie, one of our new patrons. Thank you so much for your support, John, and nice to see you hanging out with us on Discord as well. You're the best. Yeah, the best. Tomorrow is the last day to nominate us for the podcast awards.

If you're enjoying Dyshame, do us a solid and head to Podcast Awards. boards.com and nominate dice shame for best game and hobby podcast. It would mean the world to us. Thank you in advance. All right. Should we get down to business? Let's do this. Well, everyone's been cooking a lot at home lately because, I mean, obviously, with COVID, no one's going to the restaurant.

This is true. Or you shouldn't be. Don't go to restaurants. Tisk. We did a nice chicken dinner the other day, yeah. Oh, nice. We've been barbecuing a lot. We made ribs yesterday.

We made hamburgers the day before. We've been having a meat-centric weekend. Are you smoking anything or what? Like weed? No, like smoking any meat. Oh, no, it takes too long to smoke. It's definitely a commitment for a day, right? What?

No, and you get super hot. What about you, Rob? What are you making? Mostly right now. Ice coffee. Ice coffee is the thing of the thing. the day. I started making ice coffee last night with these really freshly

roasted beans and it's fucking phenomenal. Yeah. And Justin, you've been big on the Hello Fresh stuff. Well, so I stopped Hello Fresh because it's a lot of waste. Oh, that's right. But I've been continuing on the recipes. There's like a figgy cranberry sauce stuffed chicken that I really like to make. Oh my God.

That sounds so good. It's delicious. Yeah, I've made it several times now. So, we've been baking lots, banana bread, cookies. Oh, and speaking of which, I've been meaning to say, Harlan, that banana bread that you brought over and dropped off for us is fantastic. Did you like it? Excellent job.

Especially you had a little bit of a sugar crust on the top. Yeah, he put some like rock sugar. Pretty much any big good is better with a little bit of like raw sugar on the top. As it's cooking, you know, you get this nice crunchy crust. Nothing better than a sugar crumble. For sure. It's awesome to think that Kralath is like the chef of the group, you know. And I love the idea that really.

There's got to be a report at this point where we're just turning to him being like, okay, we're ready for dinner now. Oh, people have been posting on the Discord and on Facebook all of their recipes for Krayloff's scones, which I think is really adorable. That's been my favorite thing to see is all these people actually making scones. I love it. But wait, Krayloff is the cook? I thought Doran was the chef.

Oh, yeah. That's what we let you believe. Raw potatoes. We got some toenail clippings. Doren makes unique creations. More earthworms. You guys want to jump into this? Let's do it.

Let's do it. It's mid-morning. We see grud hog from the outside. Over the crest of a hill dotted by tree stumps, rivulets of water flow from crevices in the logs that form the base of the mound. We hear from within the muffled sounds of battle, a roar of pain, the squeal of pigs, a human voice shouting something, and then boom!

The southern wall explodes. in a ball of fire. Timber flies everywhere and water rushes from the hole followed swiftly by our heroes and two human children. A giant voice raised in outrage shodding from somewhere within.

You pick yourselves out of the water somewhat dazed by the sunlight and make your way for cover, arrows sinking into the ground all around you as the occupants of the hill giant's fortress send you on your way. You've kicked the hornet's nest and escaped with your lives.

Red makes it to the trees and God, I was close and he turns and like ushers Doran who I imagine is a bit slower Well I guess Red I run double my speed

So I'm like at the tree line With my bow out Just sort of aiming behind In case anyone is following As the others catch up Kraloth and Doran Are kind of in the middle here And we're each carrying one of the children

Like over our shoulder Like yeah Come on, come on, come on, come on And it picks him up and on the shoulder. I think we've also got the body of Galvin Dragon Moor as well that we brought up. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's right. So maybe I've got both the kids on my shoulders.

One over each shoulder. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, guys. Come on. And the minute we're sort of at the tree line, we move off into the dense brush a little bit and find a moment of respite. God, what the hell went wrong there? Everything. I'm exhausted.

I don't understand. I can't believe that. We just did that. We just retreated from the battle. Some of you are terribly injured, right? Good, not good news for Jack. That's right. Well, let's keep going.

And I feel like we're sort of walking and moving deeper into the woods, red taking the lead sort of turning to... I mean, Kieran's gone now, too. So... Doran putting the kids down, you know, kind of joins Jack's side. He says, put your weight on my head

and my shoulders here. As long as... Are the kids okay to walk? I can limp through. We just got to get back to Beliard, right? Yeah, yeah. The kids are okay to walk. Your kids are okay to walk, eh? Yeah, yeah. You're all right, kids? Yeah. Come on. Let's make some distance between us and Grudhog. Stay close. I feel like after enough distance, Red sort of takes a moment, does a primeval awareness, makes sure that no giants or humanoids are following us, which is sort of the vast

majority of what was in there. And once he feels it safe, finds a clearing and sort of just sets down. Jack, you need some help, bud. Yeah. Let me take a look at that. It's a little bruised. It's more than that. Got hit by a boulder.

Yeah. But hey, we made it out, I guess. My God. That ball of fire flying through the southern wall there was. That was magnificent. I really have to say. It was desperate, for sure. Well, I don't know about you, guys,

but I'm feeling pretty dejected, now. How the hell are we going to do this? I mean, I guess we've been pretty lucky so far, taking on fire giants and hill giants and coming out relatively unscathed. I mean, how do you even go about tackling such a monumental feat? And Red just sort of plops down on a log and lets out a heavy sigh. I hear you. Doran reaches into his pack and grabs out some cured meat and cured fish and he passes it off to the children and he says, Children, feed yourselves. I'm very sorry that you've had to experience this children.

Yeah, they're both pretty pale-faced and shaken-looking. He takes off one of the skins that he's wearing, and he wraps in around them. The bugbear's skins? No, no. This is like a boar skin. Kralov's going to kneel down and pull out his holy symbol and begin muttering a prayer of healing over Jack and the rest of the party. Who else is damaged?

I suppose we could all use some healing. The very least being around you guys will make me feel better. And Red sort of like wipes a tear and walks over to the others. Hopefully, Columvor will answer me here. Yeah. And as Red kneels down next to Kralath, he sort of looks to the tree line. Well, wait, wasn't there? Did everyone else die?

What happened to that other Biberian? No. And what about the Duchess? Wasn't she? And Red sort of just moves his eyes between. your faces. He left before the decision was really made to do anything. She was definitely left behind. And I kind of glance over at Krala and Jack.

Jack also looks a little bit of shame. Maybe he looks down towards the ground. Maybe a glance or two at Kralath, but says nothing. And Kralov is in the middle of his prayer, and he just continues to chant and mutter. we should take a moment to rest red he sits against a tree this feet stretched out in front of him and for the first time and maybe maybe since you guys have met doran you actually watch him go into a meditative state and he closes his eyes looks a lot like a nap doran it does it does look a lot like a nap i'm meditating but i'm not snoring in a matter of moments you see me almost look as if I am

sleeping, but I'm not snoring and I'm not lying down. It's different than when I'm sleeping, because you guys know me to sleep like Doran's trauma response is just shut down. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Restarting. Some time passes, you

rejuvenate. How many points of healing does everyone receive? Nine. Fantastic. Better than nothing. Better than a kick in the crutch. So as Doran's sitting there, he pulls out his traveling quill and a piece of scroll paper and he jots down, you know, just as he's getting up from his meditative nap. Fragan morok, I fear that I write you with a heavy heart. And be it known,

this letter will also act as my last will and testament until further notice. Please keep this letter safe with you in case you learn of my early demise. As you know, I have taken up arms with three unlikely folk. An intellectual half-elf named Jack, a wise and powerful man, Kraloth, and a fox-like, cat-like scout-like scout, known in common tongue as a Tabaxi, who has a keen eye and a strong bow. His name is Redhead and Robin. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but I say this earnestly. I trust each one of them with my life, and I would choose no other to stand at my side. Except perhaps you. We seem to have gained unwanted notoriety, as the Knights don't fore. And I currently right to you from just outside Beliard. Also to note is a large manner in which we have

taken up residence, in which we now refer to as headquarters. It is located just outside of Beliard. Although it has been mere days since we connected last, it feels as though it has been many months. We have been very busy, both in gruesome battle, as well as meeting new and interesting folk, along with an enormous and frightening green dragon. Furthermore, we have learned, or rather foreseen, magnificent changes yet to come. Changes which may affect us all. More on that later. You may recall our encounter with giants.

It seems nightstone, however, is not the only town being harassed by these foul-smelling creatures of massive proportion. Everywhere we turn, we hear of giants of all various types and sizes, causing havoc amongst everyone, even their own kind. Most recently, we retreated from a giant mount,

located nearly due south of Beliod. You will find it damning a large river. We came close to facing a humongous, overfed giant known as Chief Goh. Our party of four was overwhelmed by a great number of foe, which included giants, bugbears, orcs, and some other horrific creatures. It is our belief that severing the neck of this chief Goh may cut the head off the snake and thus help us with something called the ordaining. Or maybe it was the reordining.

It seems that fate has pulled us into playing a key role, changing the future for all of giant kind, and perhaps all of us in Fyroon. We aren't sure yet what this ordaining entails, but perhaps once I know more, I will relay it to you. In the meantime, you may want to find some strong arms in weaponry to protect yourselves from further giant attacks. Also, know this. Giants are, of course, big and strong, but it is possible to bring them down. After all, they are only flesh and blood like the rest of us, and overcoming fear of the beast themselves is the first step to a successful battle. Again, should you hear

of my fall, it is likely you'll find my corpse at this giant mound. Regardless, please burrow my body along with our kin in the Great Peak Mountains. Please give all of my smithing tools and my forge and bloomery to my apprentice, Georgon, Hammertoe. My wealth shall be divided equally amongst all and any surviving members of the Nightstone 4, as well as the boy, Thalas, at our manor outside of Beliard. To you, I leave my my mithril armor, my axe, the bloodmaker, and the rest of my personal weaponry collection. This is in my shop with Giorgon.

May these weapons be of good use, or at least a source of income for you. In the coming weeks, I will do my best to update you. With friendship and gratitude, Doran, Iron Fist. The kids, these new orphans are just huddled together on a tree stump nearby, sharing one of the skins that Doran gave them, and they're just kind of quietly talking to each other. Red will head over to them as they're talking quietly and kneel down. Hey, guys, are you all right? And he puts a hand on each of them.

The little boy looks up at you. He's obviously somewhat traumatized, but he pulls himself together. Yeah, I mean, thank you so much. for saving us. You're heroes. Wow. We thought we were going to be eaten by those giants for sure. I mean, for the past couple of days,

we've just been talking to our parents about trying to plan for escape that we knew was never really going to happen. And here you are, so thank you. And the name hero stings a little bit, as red sort of looks over his shoulder at Jack, who I imagine makes sort of the same face. Definitely, like, as soon as they say heroes, Jack, like, flinches almost away from the term, like, not comfortable with that at all. And Red turns back, it says, look, we want to get you somewhere safer.

We're going to head to a town called Bellyard. Are you from there? We're from outside of Womford. It's just down the river, but, I mean, we don't have anybody left, really, since our parents. It's, it's okay. Just climb up, and we're going to get you back to town. They're both about eight years old. Now that you're looking closely at them and you've got some time, they seem like probably fraternal twins. Oh. But yeah, you could totally carry them.

Yeah, climb up. And I pick up the girl and sort of look to the others and say, let's head back to Beliot. Yeah, let's keep going. Is everyone amenable to that? What are your plans now? Nope. Kralov is very, after the prayer,

you can see there's noticeably some tension on Krayalov's face. And he's uncharacteristically quiet. quiet and somber. And with the sound of red, ushering the party forward, Kralov stands up, grabs his mace and shield off the ground, and begins stoically marching forward. So you guys head to Belliard. It's going to be about, you know, six to eight hours at the very least of walking. It took you almost all day when Mook was leading you here.

Yeah, I think we trade off a little bit. I think there was a time where I sort of hand the kid to Kralov and scout ahead. and hang back with Doran. The kids can also walk, too, right? No. I break their legs. Oh, no. I feel like I could relate this sort of to, like, a major car accident,

where you're replaying the events of what happened, what kind of took place, and still trying to piece things together. You know, there's all the adrenaline running, and then an escape just by the skin of our teeth. There's definitely a moment where Red hangs back with Doran, being sort of the most battle-hearteded. So how many battles have you had to run? away from. Well, Red, I don't know if I've ever run away from a battle before. I just feel a little

overwhelmed. Well, hell, Doran, at least we failed together. We stuck together as a team. I still think back in my mind. It stings to the core. And Red just puts a hand on Doran's shoulder, just like a comfort. It's all right, bud. Look, we're going to go back, and he says this loud enough for the kids to hear as well. Yeah. What we left behind there isn't done. Our mission is not complete here. But I think we also need a day or so to recoup and take a moment to assess exactly what went wrong. And you can see Doren kind of almost working out like numbers on his fingers. Like he's he's working something out in his mind. That's one. If we had one more. This is two. He's kind of figuring out a way of sizing his enemies up. Like what's the best

position to take a stance against a giant, I guess? Just as a soul. You're like refining your strategy. Refining that battle stance. I think every once in a while too, just because the kids are young, we're sort of taking a five-minute breather as the terrain changes. This is like, you know, Gimli and Legalis and Aragorn like running through the countryside with two eight-year-old kids. And they're like, yeah. Can we please stop? Hey, there's a, that's a woodpecker.

That big bird up there. It's smashing its beak against the wood. Jack's just like, that's a blue jay. Jack's definitely focused on the nature because now all that he can see this way is how much damming up the river has screwed up the whole ecosystem around here how all the water is not flowing

so all of those signs that he missed when he was focused on the way here it's so clear that this place is parched because the drainage basin's been changed and you know the... True. And so everywhere he looks he can't get his mind off of that dam.

Yeah, and the fact that these giants are wreaking havoc on the food chain As we mentioned previously, Red was looking for food to give to Moog any big game, anything like that, and wasn't able to find anything. So on top of the ecological damage that a dam has wrought on this valley, there's also a huge chunk of the food chain that's just gone. So it's around somewhere in the late afternoon, early evening, when you recognize the terrain that surrounds Belliard. And that would be, is it fields again? Yeah, so this is like ranch land largely. Right.

And a lot of these ranches are abandoned, being that the cattle that was once held here has been mostly stolen. The same familiar signs pegged to all these fence posts, adventures wanted, 500 gold piece reward. And I think we pause at the edge of the field, seeing these signs and just sort of, remembering that we'd be entering this town having failed. And I share a look between everybody

and I sort of, I look at Greyloth again who's just been silent for eight hours since I asked him about what happened and I nervously look away and back to Doran. Well, I think I'm going to head to town and maybe get a drink. Anybody want to come? I think I need some time to myself,

to be honest with you, Red. I just, maybe you could take the kids to the tavern with you and not don't get him drunk now get him drunk all right that devil on red shoulder all right and i sort of bend down and pick up the kids and cheers guys and he turns away and heads across the field towards belliard i gotta go find the baker yeah i think i'll uh i'll go with you jack thanks so you you head over to the bakery and all it's everything's dark lights are off do you think she's out at the hamperet house i was just Thinking that, yeah, I mean, we paid her a lot of money, so, I mean, hopefully.

She's left. She's just a $1,000. Oh, fuck this. I'm moving to water, dear. But she's a baker, though. Trust a baker. Trust every baker. You could always trust a baker, right?

Yeah, I'm sure she is at the Hemporet house there. And that name, you can tell that Krayloff is very pensive right now. at the name Hempirat, he kind of twists his head and looks off down the street, you know, kind of blank and says, should we just get a drink? Yeah, I could use a drink. There's this, like, big moment where Jack wants to say something, wants to, like, wants to say thank you for dealing with that execution or something. He doesn't know what he wants to say, and so says nothing instead.

But there's like at this moment of something he hasn't figured out what it is yet to even say. Let's go get a drink. All right. Red, you leave your companions behind Doren heads in one direction. Kraloth and Jack head in another. What do you do? You've got the children with you? Yeah, I'm holding both kids.

And as we're sort of heading to town, there's a bit of that innocent childishness of Red that he kind of gets excited at the prospect of making them happy again. So he starts bouncing a little bit and just sort of walking a little bit silly. And, you know, the boy sort of looks at him and Red pulls a funny face at him. And there's a moment of like, you know, what, what? Like misunderstanding what this, this feline creature is pulling. And then he turns to the other one with an equally silly face. And maybe she does like just the softest, smallest of chuckles.

They're like afraid for a second because it looks like a grimace. And then they realize that you showing them your teeth isn't scary. And like the boy starts to giggle and the girl crosses her eyes at you. And at the edge of the field, Red sets them down and he points. He says, you see that big old. stony well there. Mm-hmm. Last one there loses, and he bolts,

and he, like, runs, and he, like, hops over the fence. And about 15 feet ahead of them, he looks back and sort of slows just to make sure they get that it's a game, throws a wink their way. Fake slow-mo. Yeah. I love it. Yeah, they pursue you.

One of them laughs for the first time since you've met them. It's a pretty cute scene with, like, the setting sun in the distance. You know, Red takes a few steps, and like pretends to trip a little bit and the girl pulls a head and then Red just bolts and scoops her up before she reaches it and touches the stone well before she or the boy does.

And he scoops them up again and heads towards the bar. And as they enter the tavern, he puts them back down and he points to the bartender. He says, ah, we'd like a few drinks. What do you say? Beer, ale? What would you like?

A glass of water, please. Water. We can do better than that. Give us your best goat's milk. The bartender, Maurice, who recognizes you nods and slides some glasses down the bar. Red ushers them over to the bar and just watches them drink. Doran, you take the long way around the edge of town, just kind of gaining some perspective, I guess, on this place where you guys have come to know so well. And as you circle around the north side of town, you hear a sound that is so familiar to you.

It almost sounds like the beating of your own heart. You're drawn to it reflectively. As you approach, you realize this is the sound of someone beating steel on an anvil. Doran is reflecting internally. Quietly, he looks at the sunset, he hears the ping of steel on steel. He walks towards it. What sort of Smith have they got here in town? Obviously, someone is working on their metal.

It's maybe 200 meters away from any other building, kind of on the outskirts, the north of town. You didn't notice it last time you were here. There's kind of a lean-to shed on a cobblestone house, and outside of the shed, there's a huge hearth of fire that's being stoked. And you see, the person who was hammering at this forge has set aside their hammer. They've got their back turned to you. they're stoking the fire again. This is a male figure, another dwarf. Doran kind of strolls up to the entrance of this blacksmiths.

And Doran kind of leans up against the counter and decides to just quietly watch. The dwarf turns from the fire and immediately sees you, locks eyes with you, as it were, but says nothing. He picks up his hammer, pulls the chunk of metal from where it was quenching in a barrel and then puts it back on the anvil and sort of shoots you a competitive look. Oh, really? Oh, no. Dwarves can really express with their eyes, as we know. Their eyes are so expressive.

His dark little eyes glimmer at you in kind of a joyful but aggressive way. And he starts hammering again. Doesn't say anything to you. Just going for it. You know, it's interesting that you pull that piece of steel out of that oil water and start hammering it, as opposed to heating it first. Well, maybe, if you're interested, you could take some pointers. Ooh.

Oh. Maybe I, uh, dwarves. Burn. I'd be interested to take some pointers from you. How is that still forming? Well, you see, I was merely quenching it for a moment, since the heat of this flame is such that I don't want to misshapen this dagger. If you'd like to come closer, I can show you how to put a fine edge on it.

Oh, I think that would be very interesting. Of course, Doran is playing a bit dumb. Yeah. He enters. He pulls back the half door. And he enters and he kind of comes up close. Oh, is it okay if I stand right here? As long as you don't mind a spark or two.

Now that you're up close to this dwarf, you see he's got this terrifying wound. And long healed, but it's like a third of his skull on the back is kind of crunched in. And he's missing a couple of his fingers on his left hand as well. Yeah, he just puts hammer to steel and clang, clang, clang. Wow. He's doing a passable job, but this is by no means a fine artisan of steel. Yeah, and that's exactly it. But Doran is not one to make people feel bad about themselves.

So, in fact, he doesn't really draw too much attention to the smithing. Rather, he asks about the injuries. You look like you've been in a few battles. Yeah, he stops his work, turns his back on you, and then he puts this blade back in the fire to reheat. Dusts his worn, calloused hands on a sooty apron, comes around the side of the counter and stands. right in front of you, maybe eight inches from your face. You smell the pungent odor of dwarf

sweat just pouring off of him. It was a long time ago. I don't, I don't talk about it much. You look like you've been recently wounded. Did you find a drunken skirmish, or are you in battle as well? Well, you know, I'm not one to battle and tell, but, uh, Doren decides now Completely in contrast to For the first time in his life Yeah really He holds out a hand to you

The name is Ron Mier My name is Doren Doren Iron fist A blush Across his cheeks A poorly disguised look of recognition And he clears his throat Well, the injuries from some time ago.

I don't like to talk about it. That's all right. I wouldn't dare ask you further if you're not willing to talk about your injuries. Are you interested in the wares here? Doran is perceptive of the change of tone, and he begins to wander around the shop. I'd like to roll a perception

because I'd like you to tell me what sort of quality we're looking at here. Actually, roll insight for me. Wow, 22. Nice. Wow. There's not a spot of dust here in the shop, and not a lot of aggregated ash or soot here either.

Given the skill of this Smith being what it is, you wouldn't think that this shop is well maintained, rather seems on the newer side. Like, he hasn't been in business long. In fact, there's not a lot of, stuff here. And again, the quality's not such that it's flying off the shelves, but maybe this smith has only really established himself in the community for a couple of weeks. So he picks up a short sword that's hanging on the wall for display, and he runs his hand along the blade. This isn't

bad. It could use some work, but it isn't bad. You know, I've done some blacksmithing myself. I could give you a few pointers if you'd like. He looks down at his missing finger. What do you mean? Well, if it isn't too much trouble, maybe we could exchange. You know, you could use the forge, if you like, and perhaps you can tell me what it is that you know about the craft. You know, you have to heat it. You know you have to hold it.

And you know you have to hit it. But I can clearly see that you're not heating your forge hot enough. Look, you got to get in there. And you've got to add more of this coke. Get in there. Yeah, okay. Come on. Is this going to be like a ghost moment with...

Both their hands in the fire behind, just holding the hammer. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Their beards interlocking. And then you know you have to hold it. And I see you haven't got enough tongs here. You've got two pairs of tongs. But for the type of work you want to do, you're going to need several sets of tongs.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. One tong to hold this shape. Yeah. Then Doran pulls out this chunk of adamanty. What is that? This is Adamantine. It's a very, very heavy, dense metal. Do you mind if I take a look at that really quick? Of course. He takes a chunk into his hands and he holds it up and sort of hefted it.

He tosses it in the air. It's surprisingly dense. Perfectly dwarven metal. What are you going to make with this? I think I have an idea. And Doran throws it into the forge. And he fashions the beginnings of what looks to be a small, crest of some sort. A decorative shield. I'm picturing Doran at the forge. This is the first time we've seen you actually at work and what that would look like, you know, how comfortable you are with these tools in your hands, how you might like pick it up and sort of twirl the hammer to test

its balance. Yeah. And, you know, how you would like probably tie your hair back from your face Or like, you know, get your beard out of the way, tuck it underneath the apron. Like what kind of forge habits Doran has? Yeah, yeah. And that's so true. And you see him do a quick braid with his hair. And it goes up into like this tight little braid bun. So cute.

As the two of you create this together, the door creaks as it is opened once again to permit a tall, live figure of, A female tabaxi who enters the shop and looks around at the wares. Trouble. Red, you and the children are hanging out there having some milk and cookies. No, I think at this point, Red is plucking at a loot poorly in the corner, one that Orrin left. I established with the barman that he had gone back to the villa and that was fine. And I'm sort of like, don't, dunk, don't, don't, don't. Trying to show the kids something, but obviously being so bad at it, I'm just playing up the fact that I'm bad at it.

Like, okay, this one is called plunk-de-plunk, and it's just like, don't-dunk, and the kids are like laughing at each. And I like you. And this one is plunk-de-plunk-de-plunk and just doing nonsense. Kind of entertaining children. It's at that point that the door opens. Kralath pulls the door open and holds it for Jack. And Krayloff looks over at this scene of Red in the corner, just like, you know, making music and the kids, you know, enjoying it. And just with this blank expression, he kind of just cocks his head and meets eyes with Red for a second.

And then lets the door close and turns stoically and makes his way to a booth and just sits down by himself. You know, Red pauses for a moment after that and sort of confused. He just goes back to plucking it with a bit more solemn expression and continues to try to entertain the kids. I think Jack might walk over to Red and just sort of like nod of his head. If you want to go talk to Kralath, I can sit with the kids for a bit. Oh, do you say that or that's implied through glances? That's how you know a good party. Our glances and gestures are fucking on point.

I think Red Right? Like you're really insane Yeah Red stands up Hands the loot to Jack Like puts it All right, your turn And Sir just says

Does he need to talk or something seems off Maybe he'll talk to you I don't know Jack What happened? I mean it was all bad We're not heroes man And Red sort of nods

And heads towards Grey Loth And then stops and says play plunkty plunkty plunk they love that one and then continues over the bar as you walk over to crayloth red the bartender circles around the bar with a scroll in his hand and delivers it to jack i head over to creeloth uh hey crayloth how you doing bud hello red i am uh i'm sitting here in this booth and i'm looking at my friend red how are you confused frankly um Can you do me a favor? Sure. Can you go for a walk with me? Well, I told Jack that I'd be here for a beer.

It's okay. I cleared it with him. He said, it's all right. Okay. You want to go for a walk. So I'll come for a walk with you. And Kralov stands up almost abruptly and begins to walk towards the door. And I lead him outside, and we had just sort of off the beaten path a little bit at the edge of the woods.

the field kind of give a bit of a space so that we're alone. The cold wind is tugging at your clothing and nights coming on. It's cold out here all of a sudden. Hmm. Yeah. I'm worried about Shabad. You seem like you're not yourself. What does it mean to be yourself?

I wonder. I mean... I don't know. I just... You do what feels right and what feels natural. Hmm. What feels natural to you right now, Red? Right now? Asking my friend if there's something he'd like to talk about.

Interesting. Very interesting. Kralath, what happened back there? Hmm. A grudhog? Yeah. Oh, we tried to sneak in together. We tried to be very quiet, and things were going very well.

We got... Kralath, what happened with the hump rat? woman and all of these you know sort of joviality that was dancing on crayloth's face just fades away and his face just becomes slack i had to make a decision i had to decide whether or not to keep her alive you see i was conflicted because she was the owner of the house that we've made into the home for our young friend Thalas. I don't think she would have been very happy that we had changed things, and it was clear to me that she posed a great threat.

So I made the calculated decision to end her life so that we would be okay, and we wouldn't have to worry about her coming back and trying to kill Thalas. And maybe the town of Belliard or you or Doran or Jack or Oren or myself. So I made a decision and she will no longer be bothering us. Hmm. My, look at the stars tonight. They're going to be nice, aren't they? Red just has this pained look on his face.

He's not slack jaw. He's not hit by a train, but it's this struggle between the empathy he feels for his friend and an underlying amount of fear. Because for the first time, standing across Kralath, he doesn't know him. And he sort of takes a half step back, not in a dramatic way, but as if to say there needs to be space between this person that I don't recognize. Krayloth, I... How do you feel about this? Feels nice to look at the stars.

And I think Red kind of just makes this really cowardly excuse. He sort of just looks towards Tons. Right, yes. I think I forgot that. I have to relieve Jack. I should probably see. Oh, yes.

Yeah. Make sure that Doran's okay. Hmm. Good, uh, good talk. We'll talk soon. And he just sort of turns away and leaves, uh, and as he walks away, you know, he leaves that behind him. It, it falls off his shoulders like a cloak and, and red walks away happy, as if he doesn't

have to deal with it. Yeah. And you, like, glance behind your shoulder and you see Kralov just standing in the middle of the road, staring up at the sky, just this quizzical yet blank expression as he stares upward. Jack, back at the bar, as Kralath and Red exit, you're handed a scroll. It's actually two scrolls. There's a smaller one affixed to a larger scroll. The small scroll, you recognize as something that would have come from your house, from the house of wands. So yeah, I think I hand the loot off to the kids and tell them to take turns and don't make too much noise and pull out my book with all my letter

keeping stuff and start to open the scrolls and read through them so long as there's noise happening over there it's probably fine you know when you buy like a bottle of like hot sauce or something and it comes with a tester sauce on the side yeah it's like that here's the scroll that you wanted and your tester scroll in case you like this spell yeah baby bottles so this the smaller scroll says dear jack this scroll arrived for you at home I thought it of some importance given the seal. I hope it finds you well. Ever your loyal servant, Leorah. Perfect. I know them. They're one of my favorite family servants. Perfect. Who's the second scroll from? Is there a seal on the front of it? Well, yes. The scroll, the second large scroll,

is creamy white parchment tied with a sky blue ribbon and sealed with a blazing sun stamped in gold wax. Oh, lethanderie. All right. We're going to carefully open that one and see what it says. ads fallout like in a magazine where it's like mail and certificates and like perfume and you're like like flipping through the scroll and lethandry there's like a yeah a sultry elf on the front lethandry new scent find it at your local apothecary it reads thusly spires of the morning water deep marpinoff 12 1492 d r lord johannas page house of wands north ward water deep your missive has been most illuminating. Lady Valroza Nandar's passing, and your revelation of Nightstone's shadow have called us to action. As you say, these are hearty people, but they need a guiding light to

help them through the darkness and into a new dawn. All beings must be brought to the light. The village of Nightstone is no more. To remind its citizens of its true path, the village is now known as dawn glow, and will harbor evil no longer. Additionally, you have done well to report your findings about the heretical practices of priest Tiral Mistram. He had strayed far from his path, and led his congregation with him. Destiny Agonor of Nightstone, and her embrace of the Lord of Lies has rotted the remnants of this community from the inside out. They will no longer spread such lies. You would be in the service of your God to continue reporting any similar heresy to me.

May the Morning Lord warm your everlasting soul, and may his light show your way. High Dawn Knight Carina Lathenkin. Wow. Yeah, there's a lot of feelings wrapped up in reading that. I think there's the same sort of feeling Jack feels when he like turned and left Kralath alone with the Duchess. There's like an echo to that feeling of where he's left someone else to do something, maybe not, maybe good in name, but like not great in the act of it.

And so there's just more evidence of him like turning away from doing a hard thing and letting somebody else do it. But yeah, Jack solemnly folds both letters up and tries not to think about them real hard and tucks them away in his pack with his other letters and things and thinks about writing a response, then feels anxious about it, and goes to order a drink.

Maybe orders three, hoping that Red and Kralath will be back soon. So Kralath, you're standing on the edge of Belliard looking at the sky. And then he hears the sound of a cart moving towards him down the road, and he kind of shakes his head a bit and steps out of the way and he watches as this human couple just kind of giggling to one another and sit in the front seat and move past him and one of them looks at Kralath and nods and waves

and as the cart passes Kralov kind of looks down at the ground and then he kind of imitates the wave he just like just kind of to no one in particular he just kind of puts his hand up and he smiles the way the person did. Hmm. Hello to you!

And then he waves back, and it's like long down the cart, like long down the road, and he's just finally responding. And then the smile starts to fade from his face again, and his hand goes up to his holy symbol. Is this the price to pay? and then he continues back to the bar. Kralath, you retraced your steps back into town

and you follow the sounds of merriment back into the tavern where you left Jack, taking care of the children. The kids are still playing with this loot. It seems like maybe one of them has got some talent. Elizabeth, it's Anthony's turn now. Elizabeth, give it to Anthony. It's Anthony's turn now. I love that.

And Jack's not even, like, looking at them. He's, like, at the bar, reading this letter or something. You know, he's just, like, talking to them, hand-waving them. This is how I was raised. You'll get your turn again in 10 minutes. And, yeah, so Kraylath, you walk in on this scene. Krayloth walks in, and he sees this. He sees the two kids, you know, playing on the loot and the, you know,

kind of playful tension between who's going to have the loot. There's just the slightest flicker of something in Kralath. immediately he has this feeling and he walks right up to the bar next to Jack and he says, uh, uh, sir, I'm starving. I didn't realize how hungry I was.

Hey, Craylath. Jack. It's good to see you, Jack. Yeah. What you got there? Oh, so I,

I'm just drinking a beer and got a letter from the church of Lathander. It's kind of, you know, they, oh, they, uh, went to Knightstone to help it out after,

you know, my friend died there. Oh, that's good. That's good. They're given some funding to the town and reestablishing it as a... Yeah, it's called Dawnglow now. They changed the name. That seems a little unnecessary.

Well, I guess if there isn't a Knightstone anymore, you know, I guess Hyrule's not part of the church anymore. He called him a heretic. I don't know what's happened to him, really. a high roll Hyrol is he was the priest of

Lithander and Maliki oh it was kind of a strange setup oh don't really know how that works was that bad you know

I don't know anymore I thought it I thought it was really weird at the time and so I told the church about it and I guess they thought

it was bad when they got there so oh and you know there was the the worshippers of Asmadeus

the great devil there. Yeah. Yikes. Well, I'll be honest. I don't remember too much from those days. I seem to remember mostly just the back of my eyelids. Yeah, those are rough.

Let's give another drink, man. Ooh, yeah. Too much to do. Ooh, yeah, I could go for a drink. I don't want to think about it. Some ale, too, please, Maurice. Thank you so much. There's definitely a moment where Jack wants to talk about asking Krala about the thing

that they did and decides not to again. and just like wait, maybe somebody else breaks in the door or something. Doran, as you are standing at the forge, this female Tabaxi comes in, and she starts just looking at the wares. So I'm Eve's dropping while working away at this dagger. I mean, it's a very simple piece. After a moment, she turns to you and Ranmere, and she says, um, yes, I'm sorry, I'm just looking for, um, some arrowheads?

Doran's ears perk up. Do you have any? Maybe if you come back in a couple of days, how many did you need? Maybe just, just 20. I could start with 20, if that's all right. I've got a friend in, I believe he's at the tavern. You may want to stop in and just say hello because he might have some arrows if you're looking for arrows.

He's quite a good marksman with a bow. His name is red, red-handed Robin. You don't say. You can't miss him. He's a very lively foxy fellow. He's a tabaxi as well, actually. That's wonderful. All right.

She turns on her heel and heads out the door. And then she comes back a moment later. And she's like, did he say anything about me? What? She like fixes the fur on her face really quickly. And she's like, it's been so long since I've seen him. My name's B. Um, I have never heard of that person before.

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